T-shirts
The issue When geek groups or events, such as technical conferences, user groups, etc, produce tshirts as "swag" for attendees, to sell to members, or to promote products such as software or online services, those tshirts are often produced in men's sizes only, and sometimes only in larger men's sizes. On the rare occasions that women's tshirts are provided, only smaller sizes are usually available. Kathy Sierra illustrates the issue at Tech tshirts aren't sexy enough. Not having clothing that fits is yet another reason women feel unwelcome at geek events. This can be free tshirts at conference, clothing on sale at geek fan events, and clothing to be worn by employees at trade shows. Sizing Women's tshirts are not made available in a full range of sizes, and many women are thus forced to wear ill-fitting men's tshirts, compounding any discomfort they might already feel at being in a minority at an event or in a group. Women's shirts are commonly cited as having either too small a range of bust measurements and not allowing for a range of torso lengths (even more than in men's sizing, women's sizing assumes all women are the same height). Example: Taking ThinkGeek's sizing info as an example: men's tshirts are sized from 36" chest measurement (size S) to 56" chest measurement (size XXXL). Women's tshirts are sized from 26" (S) to 36" (XXL). Thus, the largest available women's size is equivalent to the smallest available men's size. A woman whose bust measurement (including her breasts, which obviously protrude to an extent not seen on cis men) is equivalent to a men's XL (48") will find that a woman's XXL is 12" too small for her. Wearing a too-small tshirt emphasises the breasts, which may be considered inappropriate sexual display. Tshirt sizing also ties into Body image issues for many women in geek communities. "Girls'" sizes Some conference organizers have become aware of this issue, resulting in a request to their vendors for tshirts in "girls' sizes." What they don't take into account is that girl is a term of art to clothing makers, and the result is shirts where S fits a 6 year old, M an 8 year old, and L a 10 year old. Conferences can then get the take-away impression that while women request tshirts, when they're provided, they don't actually want them—so for the next conference, they don't bother to get any sizes besides men's. T-shirt design Sometimes, the printed design of tshirts can have implications for women. For example: * Text or images across the chest area of a shirt draw attention to that area. Many women are uncomfortable having attention drawn to their breasts in this manner. * The text/image itself can have gender-specific implications. For instance a tshirt that says something about "the BIGGEST servers" or something like that, would be particularly horrible for a large-breasted woman to wear. * Some designs draw attention to nipples. For instance, Ubuntu's "Karmic Koala" tshirt was a grey tshirt with black dots representing a koala's eyes, which were placed so that they fell around the location of a woman's nipples when wearing the shirt. Although the tshirt came in women's sizes, it reputedly sold poorly for this reason. * Ill-fitting tshirts (see section on sizing, above) can cause printed text/designs to stretch and crack across the bust area. Some kinds of printing are more prone to this than others. Large swathes of plasticky-feeling printing are the worst. * It should go without saying that women may be unwilling to wear tshirts with sexist or sexualized messages on them. Gendered clothing issue Although many women prefer shirts designed to fit (at least some) women's bodies, some women prefer men's style (straight torso) shirts even when women's style (looser bust) shirts are available, for reasons that range from their body shape to their preferred gender presentation or personal style. Offer all attendees a choice of cut, rather than assuming that all women will want a particular cut and all men another. Consider avoiding referring to the shirts as "women's" and "men's" although in practice finding a non-irritating alternative is difficult ("baby doll" anyone?). Perhaps "straight-cut" vs. "fitted". Professional implications Geek employers (tech companies, etc) often provide tshirts in men's sizes only. Female employees who do not wish to wear ill-fitting tshirts can experience various problems related to this: * not being seen as a "team player" * lowered self-confidence when wearing the tshirt * appearing to be poorly groomed while representing the company (eg. at a trade show or conference) Any of these can lead to a perception that a woman is less good at her job -- a very subtle form of discrimination. What to do: a summary # Make sure a women's style of tshirt (or other clothing) is available. This means a different shaped tshirt, not a completely different design. # Don't make the women's tshirt a special colour (pink! gah!). # If you collect gender on registration form, don't assume someone wants a certain style of tshirt. Human shapes vary hugely so cater for some women preferring the "men's" (square) style, and some men preferring "women's" (curvy) style. # Seek out vendors that provide a full(er) range of tshirt sizes for women # Have the women's tshirt available in sizes at least as large as the men's. # Ask attendees/members to pre-register their tshirt size, to ensure well-fitted tshirts. # Order women's sizes, not "girls' sizes", for adults. # Offer different, non-tshirt swag: eg. bags, insulated travel mugs Shirt Vendors * American Apparel, who make the tshirts favored by many conferences, sells women's tshirts with a chest size range from 26" (XXS) to 46" (XXL). (Note, however, that their XXL is roughly equivalent in size to a men's M -- still not a very realistic size range.) * Sarah Mei recommended these shirts by Port Authority, which were used at the AlohaRails conference, saying they fit better than American Apparel. They come in women's sizes ranging from 32" to 60". * Continental Clothing makes very nice women's shirts in cotton and bamboo blends, which are used by some custom tshirt printers. See also * T-shirt challenge